Chapter 2

"Weapon systems, pass."

"Operating systems, pass."

"..."

"Self-check complete. System activated."

After the cockpit door closed, He Moming took a deep breath, pushed the lever, and the half-humanoid form of the VF-1, lying on its side, began to rise.

"This is barely passable. I really owe it to this so-called basic piloting skill." He Moming manipulated the lever while pressing different buttons on the instrument panel to adjust the VF-1's flight posture. As time passed, the VF-1 gradually entered a better state under He Moming's adjustments.

"Finally done. I shouldn't encounter any enemies for now." He Moming glanced at the radar screen. Due to the numerous surrounding buildings, the radar results were not very good. After some thought, He Moming decided to maintain the half-humanoid form and walk around the area, despite the high risk.

"Beep... beep..."

He hadn't gone far when the radar sounded an alarm. As time passed, the alarm became more urgent and shrill. He Moming's heart tightened, and he gripped the lever tighter, his back muscles tensing. The VF-1 switched from half-humanoid form to human form, leaning against the wall and moving step by step toward the corner. Inside the cockpit, He Moming could hear the urgent and shrill alarm. His breathing slowed, and his eyes focused on the corner ahead.

One step! Another step, and the VF-1 could see what was around the corner. He Moming took a deep breath, stretched his finger on the firing button, and pushed the lever. The VF-1 instantly rushed into the corner.

"Beep... beep..."

He Moming looked at the empty screen and breathed a deep sigh of relief. The radar, which had been making shrill sounds, fell silent, occasionally beeping to maintain its presence. He Moming scanned the surroundings, seeing only a few unfortunate human corpses and the ruins caused by the destruction of the onboard weapons.

"Is this war?" He Moming asked, manipulating the VF-1 forward while looking at the corpses until they disappeared from the screen.

Explosions echoed around, and air raid sirens blared everywhere. He Moming had been in the VF-1 for a long time, yet he hadn't encountered a single enemy. This seemed particularly out of place amidst the continuous explosions, as if He Moming were just an observer.

Due to prolonged high tension, He Moming's consciousness began to waver. Several times, the VF-1, under He Moming's dazed control, almost crashed into the wall. Each time he woke up, he quickly fell back into a daze.

"Whoo!!! Beep... beep... beep..."

Suddenly, the alarm sounded loudly. He Moming woke up, but before he could look at the radar screen, he instinctively maneuvered the machine to the right. Despite his evasive action, he was still hit by the aftereffects of the attack. He Moming pushed the lever back and forth several times, and the VF-1 struggled to stand up. He Moming glanced at the screen and saw large areas of yellow and some red markings on the right side of the machine.

"This is the battlefield," He Moming muttered, looking ahead. The enemy he saw was very familiar: a Zentradi battle pod. The VF-1 stood still, and so did the battle pod.

Time passed. Due to prolonged piloting, He Moming's physical strength began to wane, as evidenced by his frequent lapses into daze. Just as He Moming lapsed into a daze, the battle pod's thrusters activated, and it shot toward the VF-1 like a bolt of lightning. Although He Moming quickly woke up and made an evasive move, the right side of the machine was still smashed.

"Now it's done. Except for the engine, the right side is completely destroyed." He Moming struggled to balance the VF-1 and looked at the large red area on the screen with a bitter smile. The battle pod, having successfully made the attack, did not pursue but stood still, facing the struggling VF-1.

"Is... is this a sadistic act?" He Moming looked at the battle pod. A flash of insight struck him. In the original story, the powerful Zentradi rarely engaged in sadistic acts; they usually crushed their opponents with overwhelming force. But this Zentradi exuded a clear aura of sadism. He Moming almost doubted his thoughts.

"Could there be another challenger like me?" He Moming kept his guard up, slowly retreating. The enemy remained still, not moving.

"Right now!!" He Moming felt the distance was right. He turned, pushed the lever to the maximum, and the VF-1 shot into the buildings like an arrow.

The VF-1 quickly darted through the buildings, making irregular maneuvers. When the machine's energy began to alarm, He Moming found a place he thought was hidden and hid there. Just as he was about to relax, the area around his hiding spot suddenly shook violently, followed by a loud explosion. He Moming cursed and hurried to escape. As he rushed out of the hiding spot, a barrage of missiles and machine gun fire followed. Despite several opportunities to hit the VF-1, even the cockpit, the machine gun fire only restricted the VF-1's evasive movements. The number of missiles decreased, and only a few remained.

"Sure enough!! Sure enough!! Besides me, there are other so-called challengers!!" He Moming shouted, making evasive maneuvers. Despite this, the VF-1 was already heavily damaged, and the machine's trembling intensified. He Moming gritted his teeth and scanned the surroundings. Suddenly, he saw a building. A half-finished building with a steel frame. He Moming pulled the lever, and the VF-1 made a sharp left turn, rushing into the steel-framed building. He Moming quickly hid the machine in the shadows.

The sound of the large machine grew closer, and He Moming's breathing slowed. He couldn't even feel his own breath. He Moming focused all his attention on the enemy.

Step by step, the mechanical sound grew closer. A large shadow appeared. The shadow slowly moved forward, and He Moming's fingers continuously stretched, his breathing becoming clearer.

The large shadow appeared in He Moming's field of vision, the cold steel reflecting light. The battle pod scanned the area a few times and then slowly turned to leave.

"Not yet. Hold on! Hold on!" He Moming shouted in his heart. It seemed his patience paid off. Just as the battle pod was about to turn, it suddenly turned back, raised its weapon, and fired a few shots at He Moming's location. The machine gun rounds bounced around the VF-1, and one even grazed the cockpit. He Moming clenched his teeth and held his right hand tightly. He was gambling! He was betting on the enemy's underestimation! He was betting on the enemy's underestimation of him, a rookie! This was a life-or-death gamble. But in fact, He Moming won. The battle pod stopped firing and slowly turned to leave.

"Chance!!" He Moming shouted. He pushed the lever with his right hand, and the VF-1's engine burst with powerful thrust, turning the VF-1 into a bolt of lightning that rushed toward the battle pod. In the next second, the VF-1 slammed into the battle pod. He Moming immediately pulled back the lever, stabilized the VF-1, raised the gun, aimed, and fired! The gun muzzle burst with a series of sparks, and the rounds hit the battle pod at supersonic speed, turning into deadly explosions.

"Click... click..."

The gun muzzle was filled with the smoke of spent gunpowder, and the firing mechanism made weak clicking sounds. He Moming's fingers still twitched on the firing button. He Moming suddenly woke up from the machine gun's roar, struggling to pull his trembling hands off the control lever. He Moming curled up in the cockpit, his vision blacking out, and he fainted.

After an unknown amount of time, He Moming slowly regained consciousness. Before he could observe his surroundings, a voice suddenly came from not far away.

"Help!! Someone, save me!!"

He Moming immediately drove the VF-1 out of the steel-framed building and scanned the area. The scene before him instantly overlapped with his memory. The transformation had begun. Cars on the road, rubble from the ruins, tables, chairs, and all sorts of debris were tilting in the same direction.

"Only such a short time has passed. It feels like a century has gone by." He Moming sighed, comparing the scene to his memory.

"Ah... help... someone, save me!!"

The cry for help sounded again, and He Moming found the source. A girl, her feet dangling, clung to a railing. She seemed to relax when she saw the VF-1 approaching. But a misstep caused her to fall. After struggling, she couldn't grab onto anything.

"Hold on. I'm coming to save you." He Moming activated the external speaker, pulled the lever, and the VF-1 accelerated toward the girl. However, there were many falling objects in the air, and evasive maneuvers took up most of He Moming's attention.

Gradually, the VF-1 and the girl were within arm's reach. He Moming repeatedly pressed the release button, using the VF-1's left hand to grab the girl. He Moming carefully adjusted the force of the VF-1's left hand, afraid of accidentally crushing the girl. Finally, the VF-1's left hand, under He Moming's control, steadily grabbed the girl. Just as He Moming breathed a sigh of relief, the VF-1's right engine suddenly experienced a series of small explosions. The VF-1 lost control again. He Moming desperately pulled the lever, bringing the VF-1's left hand to the front of the machine and forcing the cockpit to face the street, which was now tilted at a 90-degree angle. Before He Moming could finish, a violent impact pushed him into darkness.

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